Dominating in the first and third rounds, Hioki pitched a shutout on the judges’ scorecards against tough featherweight veteran Bart Palaszewski.

The bout served as the second fight of UFC 144’s pay-per-view main card, which took place Saturday at Saitama Super Arena in Saitma, Japan. It followed prelims on FX and Facebook.

From the get-go, Palaszewski was operating at a deficit.

In the second exchange of the fight, Hioki dropped him with a punch and then landed a thunderous kick to the body.

Things didn’t get much better from there.

A consistent jab stung Palaszewski, and after a short struggle, he found himself on his back in side guard eating short and accurate punches. When Palaszewski rolled to escape the position, Hioki took his back, grabbed an arm and seemingly had an armbar locked. Palaszewski continued to roll out of danger, but couldn’t free his arm. Hioki cranked and cranked, but couldn’t get the tap. And somehow, “Bartimus” escaped.

He didn’t however, escape a torrent of punches as he lay pressed against the cage. Hioki pounded away with right hands until the sound of the first bell.

Noticeably slower than in the first round, Palaszewski worked kicks before landing a powerful one-two for his first points of the fight. Unaffected, Hioki continued to press forward as the two traded kicks. Slowly, the score evened as the two engaged on their feet, and Palaszewski’s right hand found its mark. Hioki headhunted with a kick but took shots to his legs in return. By the end of the second, Palaszewski’s striking had shifted the fight’s momentum.

With the fight possibly tied at a round each, Hioki immediately wrestled Palaszewski to the mat and again found his way to side control in the third round. Lying high on Palaszewski’s torso, Hioki continued to deliver punches. Palaszewski again rolled to escape the bad spot, and Hioki took his back. But he couldn’t sink the choke that would end the fight, and the final bell sounded.

The outcome, however, was not in doubt. All three judges gave the former Shooto and World Victory Road/Sengoku champion the fight with scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.

“There’s a need to improve more, so I’ll try to improve more,” Hioki said through a translator. “I think I truly showed what I practiced for a long time.”

Hioki (26-4-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) earns his second consecutive win in the UFC since signing with the promotion this past year.

Palaszewski (36-15 MMA, 1-1 UFC), meanwhile, suffers the first loss of his UFC career after two stints in the now-defunct WEC.

As the UFC 189 tour made its last stop in Dublin, featherweight champ Jose Aldo was met with a torrent of abuse from the Irish fans. It might have been unpleasant, but it might also have been just what he needed.